Russell Walsh, June 13

th
, 2014



School
Queens Elementary School
School Improvement Plan Year
2014-2015


Members of the School Improvement Team (list roles only)


Principal, Curriculum Coordinator (Early Intervention coordinator & instructor), Special Education teacher (Early Intervention instructor # 2), Grade 1 & 2 teachers, Grade 1 & 2
assistants


Comprehensive Needs Assessment School Self Assessment and School Data


Areas of Strength
With the implementation of the Early Intervention Program 2 years ago, the
kindergarten students are entering grade 1 more ready to read. Only 2 grade 1
students who were also kindergarten students at our school came into grade 1
reading below grade level expectations (93% of returning students were
reading at grade level)
This year, only 2 of 35 students in grade 1 needed reading intervention all year,
compared with 7 students last year in the first year of implementation.
Of the 5 new grade 1 students to our school, all of whom read below grade
level and/or didnt speak English upon arrival, 4 are now reading at or above
grade level at the end of grade 1
4 staff members are either Reading Specialists, Reading Specialist candidate,
or have a Masters in Reading/Early Childhood literacy
Our principal has a passion for early literacy, which helps put literacy at the
top of the agenda

Successful Practices
Identified students are getting help early, and grade 1 teachers are using best
practices to ensure quality instruction continues after students leave the
program (one teacher is a Reading Specialist candidate, and the other has had
her National Reading Certificate (USA) for 5 years)
Implementation of Daily 5 this year has helped teachers differentiate instruction,
and spend lots of quality time with identified readers that need extra help
EAL support is working
Resources are improving drastically from year to year, including library
resources, technology resources, and classroom resources






Russell Walsh, June 13
th
, 2014

What does our data tell us?

Areas of Concern
Last year (2012-2013), 24 of 26 students entered grade 2 reading at grade
level. At the end of the year, 19 of 25 students were reading at grade level.
This year (2013-2014), 31 of 36 students entered grade 2 reading at grade
level. At this time, 28 of 36 students are reading at grade level.
Our data tells us that grade 2 has a higher percentage of readers reading
below the expected grade-level benchmarks set by DRA at the end of the
school year than at the beginning of the school year.
At the beginning of grade 1 this year, 2 returning students and all 5 new
students were reading below grade level, so 24 of 31 grade 1 students were
reading at or above grade level.
At this time, 31 of 35 grade 1 students are reading at or above grade level,
including 3 of the 4 students who joined us in February (of whom, only 1
was reading at grade level at the time, and none of them even qualified for
Early Intervention due to a lack of English Language proficiency).
Our data tells us that we need to have our Early Intervention program run
right through grade 2
We need to fine tune our literacy instruction and literacy support in grade
2

Factors to be Considered
Early Intervention is only in its
second year, so current 2
nd
grade
students only had one year of it, and
last years 2
nd
grade students never
had it
Early intervention stops after the first
semester of grade 2 (there wasnt
enough staff to implement it across
three grades the first two years)
Being an international school, the
student makeup can change
drastically from year to year, and even
from semester to semester
New English language learners
entering in the middle of the year can
make the data misleading at times

Mitigating Strategies-In-school intervention
Early intervention will continue with
kindergarten and first grade, but as fewer
readers need it coming out of
kindergarten and first grade, it will be
extended right through grade 2 for those
children identified after the February
assessment period
Grade 2 teachers will be expected to make
strategic use of DRA continuum for
instruction to plan guided mini-lessons in
order to help bolster student proficiency
across the continuum
Grade 2 teachers will more effectively use
Raz-kids to identify student weaknesses
and then explicitly teach students to
improve the identified weaknesses
Grade 2 will implement for dynamic,
effective classroom practices





SMART Goal


S: Grade 2
M: DRA reading assessment
A: From 72% in school year 2013-2014 (26 out of 36 students) to 89% in 2014-2015 (32 out of 36 students). This is
particularly achievable as 89% of current grade 1 students will be entering grade 2 reading at grade level (14-16), and only 2
students are reading more than one level below grade level (levels 10 and 8, respectively)
R: Reading on grade level as per DRA benchmark (level 28)
T: May/June, 2015 testing period
Russell Walsh, June 13
th
, 2014

Plan Design and Implementation Strategies

Monitoring Strategy
Research Based Strategies

Resources Required Professional Learning
Strategies
Parental/Community
Engagement
Measure of Success Timelines Responsibility Evaluation
- Use of differentiated
instruction

- Various assessment
strategies for all learners,
especially identified
learners

- Opportunities to
demonstrate self-
regulation skills (literacy
goal setting, self
assessment)

-Use technology as a way
of engaging children and
connecting literacy to their
lives

- Mini-lessons delivered as
whole-class as well as
small-group lessons

- Modelled thinking, use
of strategies, and
application of skills


Student Leadership
Development
- DRA2
assessment
package

- DRA Online
Management
System access

- Colleagues: 2
Reading
specialists (both
grade 1 teacher) &
Masters in
Reading
(Curriculum
Coordinator and
grade 3 teacher)

- NWEA MAP test
access & web-
based data
support

- Fountas &
Pinnells Guided
Reading:
Good First
Teaching for All
Children

- Harvey &
Goudvis
Strategies That
- PLC meetings
between grade 1,
grade 2, and grade 3
teachers to share
literacy ideas,
assessment data and
next steps

- Team teaching
between grade 1 and
2 teachers, as well as
between curriculum
coordinator and
grade 2 teachers

- Job embedded
professional
development

- Differentiated
instruction
workshops lead by
curriculum
coordinator

- Class walk
throughs/
observations as a way
of sharing/seeing
best practice ideas in
action

- Parents will be
encouraged to help
their child use Raz-
kids at home

- Parents will be
encouraged to read
with their child at
home
- Community
members will be
invited to take part
in Mystery
Reader program
to create
enthusiasm around
reading

- Parents will be
included in the
Early Intervention
process, explaining
how it works, what
it means for the
students involved,
and how to help at
home

- Regular emails
from teachers
reporting to
parents how
progress is being
- Students will be
assessed in the
September/October
testing period, and
students reading
below grade level
(level 18) will be
identified as needing
Early Intervention.
Students on grade
level will be marked
for extra support in
class from the
classroom teacher in
order to ensure they
do not fall below
grade level
expectations

- Students will be
reassessed in the
February testing
period. Students still
reading below grade
level (level 24), or
now reading below
grade level, will
continue with Early
Intervention until the
end of the year.
Students on level 24
will be monitored by
the classroom teacher
- First testing
period:
September/October
- October to
January:
implementation of
Early Intervention
and high-quality
classroom
instruction, with
extra attention
given to identified
students

- Second testing
period: February
- February to May:
further
implementation of
Early Intervention
and high-quality
classroom
instruction, with
extra attention
given to identified
students

- Third testing
period: May/June
- Use data to
evaluate SMART
goal success
- Grade 1 teachers
and assistants will
be responsible for
ensuring that 86% -
89% of their
students finish
grade 1 at grade
level (14-16)

- Grade 2 teachers
will be responsible
for administering
the DRA in
September/October
and identifying
students in need of
Early Intervention
as well as students
in need of extra
support in-class

- Curriculum
coordinator and
Special Education
Instructor will be
responsible for
implementing the
Early Intervention
program to the
identified students
in kindergarten,
grade 1 and grade 2

Students will be
assessed in
May/June of 2015,
using the DRA
assessment
guidelines in order
to see which
students have
achieved the grade
2 benchmark (level
28) or better.

Reflect on
successes and trade
ideas for
improvements next
year

Congratulate
teachers on their
hard work, and
(hopefully) the
successful
completion of their
SMART goal!

Older students could be
paired up as literacy
buddies with younger,
Russell Walsh, June 13
th
, 2014

identified/struggling/
unenthusiastic students.
Work: Teaching
Comprehension
for Understanding
and Engagement

- Tomkins
Literacy in the 21
st

Century: A
Balanced
Approach



made, and new
skills that could be
worked on at home
to ensure they are
able to progress to
level 28 by the end of
the year
- Grade 2 teachers
and assistants will
be responsible for
using high-quality,
differentiated
instruction to
ensure learning
maximum student
growth in reading

- The principal will
be responsible for
giving support to
the people
mentioned above,
as well as
protecting literacy
blocks